“Where’s the review?” say Churches and charities

02 July 2015

It has been 100 days since the Work and Pensions Select
Committee called for a full independent review of the benefit
sanctions system, but the Government has not indicated any
intention to conduct a review. A group of Churches and charities is
calling urgently for the Government to heed the Committee's report
and act on its recommendations.

In the same 100 day period last year, 346,256 people who
were on Jobseeker's Allowance and 35,554 people on Employment
Support Allowance were referred for sanctions. 92,558 of those
referrals were the result of bureaucratic error. These resulted in
175,177 sanctions for Jobseekers and 11,129 for those out of work
due to ill health. The call for a review is supported by the
Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Church of Scotland, the Church
in Wales, the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and by
charities Church Action on Poverty, Gingerbread and
Mind.

"The implementation of the present sanction regime is
controversial with the government claiming it is effective in
helping people into work while many others say sanctions are
causing real distress to families and are actually acting as a
barrier to participation," said Dame Anne Begg, MP for Aberdeen
South from 1997 to 2015, who chaired the Select Committee. "If
sanctions work as a deterrent, why are so many people still facing
multiple sanctions? As there are so many questions about the
effects on people who have been sanctioned, it is time the
government implemented the recommendation of my Select Committee in
the last Parliament to carry out a full, independent review of the
whole sanction regime. Many believe that sanctions are being
applied to the wrong people for often trivial reasons and are the
cause of the increased use of foodbanks. Only an independent review
can get to the truth of what is actually happening so that
government policy can be based on evidence and not seen as merely
punitive."

"The case has been made," said Paul Morrison, Public
Issues Policy Adviser for the Methodist Church. "The sanctions
system requires fundamental review and we call upon the new
Parliament to respond positively to the recommendations of the
Select Committee. Churches and charities are backing this call
because we see day by day the harm that benefit sanctions cause in
the communities we serve. We recognise the hiatus caused by the
General Election, but hope that the new Parliament will recognise
the urgency of this matter and announce a full independent inquiry
as soon as possible."

In March this year the Churches called for such a review
in their report Time to Rethink Benefit Sanctions, which cited new
evidence about the negative impact of the current regime. The
report revealed that around 100,000 children were affected by
sanctions in 2013/14. The data, obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act, also shows that people who receive the sickness
and disability benefit Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
because of a long-term mental health problem are being sanctioned
at a rate of more than 100 per day.

The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan said: "Since
2012, the rate at which sanctions have been applied to vulnerable
people claiming Job Seekers Allowance and Employment Support
Allowance in Wales has increased even faster than in England or
Scotland. Many claimants, who are already suffering from mental or
physical health problems and living in poverty, are threatened with
sanctions because of administrative errors. For the sake of human
dignity, fairness and compassion, the system must be
changed."

Paul Farmer, CEO of Mind, said: "Far too many people with
mental health problems are having their benefits cut for not
meeting the requirements placed on them, which are often
inappropriate in the first place. The use of sanctions is causing
financial hardship and is based on the assumption that people
claiming out-of-work benefits lack motivation and willingness to
find and keep a job, which couldn't be further from the truth for
the people Mind represents.

"The vast majority of people who are out of work due to
their mental health want to work. But the constant threat of
sanctions causes a great deal of distress, making people more
unwell and a return to work less likely. We support the Churches'
call for the Government to commission an independent review into
sanctions policy."

"In working with churches across the North West, I am
increasingly hearing stories of individuals whose lives are being
blighted by the impact of benefit sanctions," added the Revd Phil
Jump, Regional Minister for the North Western Baptist Association.
"There is clear evidence of the need for our government to take
serious account of the concerns and recommendations of a committee
which itself is part of our parliamentary system."